From Grammar to Writing Editing for Verb Forms ‘When a paragraph includes more than one time frame (both present and past, for example), use correct verb forms to keep your meaning clear. You should also use transitional words and phrases such as now, at that time, and since then, to signal a change in time. Example simple past presentperfc 1 decided to change my behavior. I have been much happier. —> One day I decided to change my behavior. Since then I have been much happier. 1 compete his student’ paragraph about a phase in here (a temporary period when she had particular kinds of behavior and feelings). Use the correct form of the verbs in parentheses. ‘MY “STUPID” PHASE ‘Today my friends think of me as a serious student, 1 (think) but they__ about my “stupid” phase. Until two years 2. (not know) ago,I____ mostly about clothes and makeup, and I usually 3. (think) people by thelr appearance and possessions. In that 4 Gudge) period of my life, my friends and Talways_____ in 5. (speak) stereotyped phrases. We____“Hel-LO?" when something (ay) obvious, and “Whatever” when we 7. (seem) @. (not care) about something. Inever____ anyone to realize that I 9. (wand) interested in school. SometimesI____the 10. (be) 11. (read) newspaper secretly and___ to be unprepared for tests. 12. (pretend) (One day, my older brother__into my room while I 13. (come) (continued)44] Paxrl ______ a serious novel. No one__ ever 14. (read) me do that before even though T__ an 15. (520) 16. (be) avid reader for years. He thought I_________ to be interested 17. (pretend) in the book in order to impress a new boyfriend. I 18. (ged angry when he___atme,sol____a 18. (augh) 20. (make) decision. I hiding my real interests. Sinoe that day, I 21. top) my news magazines proudly and Beary) opinions in class. For the last two years 24. (prepare) openly. Now I for college, and I ply) 26. (feed) proud of being a good student. Look at the paragraph in Exercise 1. Find the transitional words and phrases that signal a change in time. 1. the simple present to the simple past Until wo years ago 2. the simple past to the present perfect (progressive) 3. the present perfect (progressive) to the present progressive 3 | Complete the chart with information from the paragraph in Exercise 1. Paragraph Section Information Form of the Verb Topic Sentence + what the writer is ike now a serious student simple present Body of the Paragraph + habits and feelings during the phase + the event that ended the phase * behavior since the phase ended Conclusion + the results of the changeReview Test i Complete this magazine article by circling the correct verb forms. The rainy spring is over and the nice weather arrived /has artived. On all the TV food channels celebrity chefs from Bobby Flay to Emeril Lagasse have discussed / ae discussing their favorite barbecue sauce recipes. Are you thinking / Do you think of having a barbecue? E Have you ever wondered / been wondering about the origin of the term? Even though North ‘Americans love /are loving this suburban ritual, food historians agree Lare-agrecing thatthe term barbecue is not strictly American. They argue /are arguing about the origin of the name, however. Some historians claim /are claiming that the word has is having Spanish and Haitian origins. In the past, people in those cultures used Lwere using rack to roast meat or to dry it. They called / were calling this framework of sticks and posts barbaco. ‘ ‘The word sounds /is sounding close to the modern word barbecue, but not everyone accepted /has accepted this explanation. Other historians think are thinking that the origin of the term isthe French phrase barbe 2 queue, which means is meaning “from whisker (barbe) to tail (quene}.” They point out that people in the 1700s roasted / have roasted whole animals outdoors as well as indoors. By 1733 this process of cooking meat had become / had been becoming a party. People stood /have stood around the fire and talked /had talked until the food was /had been ready. ; “That, with the addition of barbecue sauce, seems Lis seeming pretty much like a modem barbecue. Whatever the origin of the term, a barbecue is Lhas been now not only a means of cooking, but an event.Review Test | 47 | ‘Complete these conversations that take place at a barbecue by circling the correct verb forms. 1. A: George! How are you? I haven't seen / haven‘t been seeing you for a long time. What ‘Aappens {sheen happening? B: Oh. Thave /’m having news. Betty and I moved /have moved last month, ‘We bought / were buying a house. At Congratulations 1 didn’t know you had looked / had been looking for one. So, where are you now? : B: In Rockport County. We have been planning / had been planning to move to Putnam County, but we have decided / decided on Rockport instead. A: Oh, how come? B: The school district is/has been better there. Have you ever been / Had you ever been to Rockport? ‘ A: No. It’s near Putnam, isn’t it? B: Uh-huh. Listen, we have/’re having a barbecue almost every weekend. You'll have to ‘come to one. ‘A: Thanks. I'd love to. 2. A: ‘Have you tried / Have you been trying the hot dogs? They’re delicious. Bs Yes. Ive already eaten /ve been eating four! The hamburgers smell/ are smelling good too. I’mthinking /think of having some of those. ‘As Well, just save some room for dessert. When I saw / see Betty in the kitchen a few minutes ago, she was taking some pies out ofthe oven. They looked Awere looking great. 3. A: Have you met/ Have you been meeting Jack’s new wife? B No. What's her name? ‘A: Alice, but everyone calls /is calling her Al. B: What does she do / is she doing? ‘Az Well, she’s “between jobs.” She ‘was working / worked for a health insurance company when they laid off / had laid off a lot of employees. She was one of the people who Jost /was losing their jobs. (continued)48 | Parr B: A lot of companies bane been curving {had bern corting their staff. That’s too bad. AAs Yes. And she really likes /liked her job. Now she ‘trying /tries to change careers. 4. A: Have Aland lack/ Had Al and Jack lft for their honeymoon yet? Br Yes. Asa matter of fact, I got/ "ve gorten a postcard from them yesterday. ‘They stay re staying atthe Hotel Splendor. It sounds /’s sounding great. A: Well, they really need Lare needing a vacation. This isthe frst time that they ‘bad been / have been away since they mat /were mesting each other. B: I know, What ae he dong do hey dase? A: Oh, they've got so many plans. They ‘re taking / take scuba diving lessons, and they also have been learning / had been learning to water ski B: Sounds like fun. 7 oO Circle the letter of the correct word(s) to complete each sentence. 1. It was 1990, and I in Denver for a year. ABC (A) have been living (C) was living (B) had been living (D) lived 2. 1met my wife, Meri, while I some classes at the local college. ABC (A) was taking (C) have been taking (B) had been taking (0) am taking 3,She 1a ski instructor at a resort at that time, and she was working ABC every weekend. (A)is (C) was (B) has been (D) had been 4. As soon as my friend introduced us, I her about her name. ABC (A) asked (C) had asked (B) have asked (D) was asking Sut from la mer, the French word for sea. ABC (A) has come (C) was coming (B) comes (0) is coming 6. Her parents her after their profession. ABC (A) name (C) were naming (B) are naming (D) had namedReview Test | 49 7. Before they , they had both been diving instructors. ABCD (A) had retired (C) have retired (B) retired (D) retire 8. After Meri turned eighteen, they to give her diving lessons. ABCD (A) always try (C) were always trying (B) are always trying (D) have always been trying 9. Meri has loved skiing she was ten, ABCD (A) from (©) since (B) for (D) while 10. When we married, we had been dating about a year. ABCD (A) get (C) have gotten (B) had gotten (D) got 11. We named our first daughter Neige, which snow in French. ABCD (A) is meaning (C) means (B) meant (D) has meant 12. Meri to name our daughter Snowflake, but she changed her mind. =A BC D (A) is planning (C) had been planning (B) plans (D) has been planning 13. We our third child now. ABCD {A) are expecting (C) expected (B) were expecting {D) have expected 14. We've been reading baby-name books for weeks, but we (A) didn’t choose (C) hadn't chosen (B) don’t choose {D) haven’t chosen anameye. A BC D Ow Complete this conversation with the correct form of the verbs in parentheses. A: HiT Matt Rotell, a friend of Alice’s. Tiber B: Oh, yes. Alice you the other day. Gee, you like 2 mention 3:tnot Took) a detective. A: Well, that’s good, I B: P'm curious. Tell me, how you to become an Eaeide) undercover cop? (continued)50 | Parl A: Well, when I akid, I to read detective novels. Tea Flere) BythetimeI____ten, I every book in the Hardy Tbe arena Boys series. 1 then that I to go into law Teimow Tiwant enforcement. B: But according to Alice, you law school nowadays. Ta arena) A: Right. I married last month. I being on the Taae Ta noting) police force when I single, but ever since I Tee) Teme Nicole—that’s my wifeI___to do something less dangerous. Tart B: I . By the way, you any Teundersandy Tartare) luck yet with those counterfeiters? A: Well, 1 them for more than a month now, but so far I 30.(follow) __catch them in the act. Sometimes I that by the Tisjnotbe aber or) time they're caught, I'l have my law degree and I'll be defending them! [EDD Peat his eter rom Al, There are ten mistakes in the use of verb forms. The fist mistake is already corrected. Find and correct nine more. Dear Nicole, have been staying Jack and I ere-staying at the Splendor for almost a week already. We've been spending a lot of time at the beach swimming and water-skiing, and I was taking scuba lessons in the hotel pool for several days now. Yesterday, I've been planning to take my first dive from a boat. Unfortunately, by the time we left shore, the weather has changed. We had to cancel the dive. This morning it was still a little cloudy, so we did something different. We were deciding to visit the Castle, an old pirate stronghold in Hideaway Bay. We had both read a little about it before we left, and it really sounded fascinating. So we've rented a motorbike and took off. ‘They aren't having any road signs here outside of town, so by the time we found the Castle, we've been driving for about an hour, It was fun, though. When we were seeing the Castle, dark clouds were drifting over it. It really looked spooky and beautiful. ‘Well, the weather has cleared, and Jack gets ready to go for a dive. I think P'll join him, See you soon. Love, Al D> To check your answers, go to the Answer Key on page RT-1.From Grammar to Writing IT Avoiding Sentence Fragments Time clauses begin with time words and phrases such as by the time, when, while, 4s soon as, before, after, and since, A time clause by itself is not a complete sentence. When you write sentences with time clauses, avoid sentence fragments (incomplete sentences) by connecting the time clause to a main clause. Example ‘SENTENCE FRAGMENT COMPLETE SENTENCE time danse timedlause sin dase —> As 00n ae I finda job, Twill move, timedasse ran cewse tine dase Since Lmoved. —> Thave been much happier since I moved. Punctuation Note Use a comma after the time clause when the time clause comes first. Ay Read this letter. Correct the sentence fragments by connecting the time clause to a main clause. Use appropriate punctuation and capitalization. ok December 10, 2005 Deer Jamie, By the time you get this letter, By the tre you-get ths letter: | ‘As of today, im @ warkng ment heave been taking tickets at Cné Modeme for more then a week, It's gong to be herd to work and go to school ful time, but you'll understand why |'m dong it. When you heer my plens. ‘As scon as school ends. My brother Alex end | ere gong to take a trp ‘to Greece end Turkey. | plen to buy a used car, end we'll camp mast of the wey. By the end oF Jenuzry, Ill have been sevng for more then a yeer for ths trp-end Il have enauch to buy 2 cer. (continued)80] Prxrit Why don’t you come with us? | don’t fish my finals unt June 10. You'l ‘ready have fished your exams. While I'm stil tekng mne, Meybe you can ‘come early end do some sichtseeng until I'm ready to leave, Alex has ‘some busness to complete. Before he goes on vacation He wan't have finshed until Juy 15, but he can jon us then. |'m leaving Pens on June 17. I'l dive throuch Italy and teks the fery from Brndsi to Greece. I'l stay n Greece. Until Alex jons me. Just thnk-whie your friends aren summer school, you coud be swimming in the ‘Aegean! We'll be leaving Greece. As soon as Alex arives so we'll have a month in Turkey, Wel stert back eround August 20. Your classes won't have sterted by then, wil they? | hope you will be able to jon us for ths tp, Alex 's lookng forwerd to ‘Seeing you again too, Your frend, Philppe: 2 | complete the time line with information from the letter in Exercise 1. December 10 Philippe starts his new job January 31 —_ May 31 - June 10 -- — June 17 SEE — July 15 a ‘August 20 _